Vegetable room for refrigerator

ABSTRACT

A vegetable room for a refrigerator includes: a vegetable box ( 20 ) disposed inside a refrigerator in which a cooling air supply unit is provided to circulate cooling air therein and a plurality of shelves ( 10 ) are provided, and having a receptacle space ( 5 ) for receiving food items therein opened upwardly; a box cover ( 30 ) for covering an opening side of the vegetable box ( 20 ) to close the receptacle space ( 5 ) of the vegetable box ( 20 ) and having a plurality of cooling air ventilating holes ( 31, 41 ) formed at one side thereof to introduce cooling air into the vegetable box ( 20 ); a cover support unit ( 22 ) interposed between the box cover ( 30 ) and the shelf ( 10 ) to support the box cover at the shelf; a plurality of opening and closing members ( 33, 43 ) for opening and closing the cooling air ventilating holes ( 31, 41 ) of the box cover ( 30 ); and an operating unit ( 24 ) for operating the opening and closing members ( 33, 43 ) simultaneously.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a vegetable room for a refrigeratorand, more particularly, to a vegetable room for a refrigerator that iscapable of keeping storage stuff fresh for a long period regardless ofenvironmental conditions outside a refrigerator

BACKGROUND ART

In general, a refrigerator includes a freezing chamber for preservingfreezing food items, a refrigerating chamber for keeping refrigeratingfood items, and a refrigerating cycle for supplying cooling air to thefreezing chamber and the refrigerating chamber. A vegetable room isprovided at a lower side of the refrigerating chamber to generally keepfruits, vegetables or functional storage items.

FIG. 1 is a vertical-sectional view showing one example of arefrigerator in accordance with a conventional art.

The conventional refrigerator includes: a main body 100 having areceptacle space therein, a freezing chamber 103 disposed at an upperportion of the main body 100 and keeping freezing items, a refrigeratingchamber 109 disposed at a lower portion of the main body 100 by beingpartitioned from the freezing chamber 103 by a wall 105 and having aplurality of shelves 107 for receiving refrigerating food items, afreezing chamber door 111 and a refrigerating chamber door 112respectively mounted to be opened and closed forwardly of the freezingchamber 103 and the refrigerating chamber 109; a cooing air supply unitinstalled at a rear side of the refrigerating chamber 103 and supplyingair cooled while passing a refrigerating cycle to the freezing chamber103 and the refrigerating chamber 109; and a vegetable room provided ata lower side of the refrigerating chamber 109 and keeping fruits,vegetables or functional storage items.

The refrigerating cycle includes a compressor 104 for changing a lowtemperature and low pressure gaseous refrigerant to a high temperatureand high pressure gaseous refrigerant; a condenser (not shown) forcondensing the gaseous refrigerant which has been compressed in thecompressor 104 to a liquid state and externally discharging heat; anexpander (not shown) formed as a capillary tube for changing therefrigerant in the liquid state as changed in the condenser to a lowtemperature and low pressure saturated liquid state; and an evaporator106 for evaporating the refrigerant in the saturated liquid state, aschanged in the expander in the low temperature gas state to absorbexternal heat.

The cooling air supply unit includes a blow fan 115 mounted at a surfaceof a rear wall of the freezing chamber 103 and forcibly ventilating aircooled while passing the evaporator 106; a panel 114 disposed at a frontside of the blow fan 115 and having a plurality of cooling air dischargeholes 112 for supplying cooling air into the freezing chamber 103; acooling air supply passage 117 formed penetrating the wall 105 tointroduce the cooling air ventilated from the blow fan 115 to therefrigerating chamber 109; a cooling air discharge duct 118 mounted at arear side of the refrigerating chamber 109 and communicating with thecooling air supply passage 117 to guide the cooling air supplied to thecooling-air supply passage 117 into the refrigerating chamber 109; and acooling air inlet passage 116 formed penetrating the wall 105 to allowthe cooling operation-completed air after having been circulated in therefrigerating chamber 109 to be re-introduced into the evaporator 106and cooled.

The refrigerant discharge duct 118 includes a plurality of cooling airdischarge holes 119 through which cooling air is discharged into therefrigerating chamber 109.

As shown in FIG. 2, the vegetable room is configured by the lowermostshelf of the plurality of shelves 107 and a vegetable box 108 disposedat the lower side of the lowermost shelf and opened upwardly with areceptacle space with a certain volume therein.

As the vegetable box 108 is slid forwardly and backwardly at the lowerside of the shelf 107, a storage stuff is received/taken away, and aspace (h) is maintained between the shelf 107 and the vegetable box 108.

The operation of the conventional refrigerator will now be described.

First, when the refrigerating cycle is driven and the blow fan 115 isrotated, air is cooled while passing the refrigerating cycle anddischarged to the cooling air discharge hole 112 of the panel 114 and tothe cooling air supply passage 117 by the blast pressure of the blow fan115.

The cooling air being discharged into the cooling air discharge hole 112circulates in the freezing chamber 103 to perform a cooling operation onthe freezing food items stored in the freezing chamber 103.

The cooling air supplied to the cooling air supply passage 117 isintroduced into the cooling air discharge duct 118 and then dischargedinto the refrigerating chamber 109 through the cooling air dischargehole 119 formed at the cooling air discharge duct 118.

The cooling air, which has been discharged into the refrigeratingchamber 109, performs a cooling operation on the refrigerating fooditems received in the shelves 107 of the refrigerating chamber 109 andin the vegetable box 108 while circulating in the refrigerating chamber109.

At this time, as the cooling air directly contacts with therefrigerating food items received on the shelves 107 and in thevegetable box 108, the cooling air takes the moisture from therefrigerating food items, containing more moisture, and as the coolingair is re-introduced into the refrigerating cycle through the coolingair inlet passage 116 formed at the wall 105, it is cooled again. Themoisture moved along with the cooling air is congealed at the surface ofthe evaporator 106, is defrost in a frost-removing operation for theevaporator 106 and discharged outwardly.

Therefore, in a state that the refrigerating chamber door 113 is closed,the humidity inside the refrigerating chamber 109 is gradually lowereddown due to the circulation of cooling air.

However, the conventional refrigerator has the following problems.

That is, first, since the vegetable box 108 is opened upwardly, coolingair supplied into the refrigerating chamber 109 is introduced into thespace between the vegetable box 108 and the shelf 107 to directlycontact with the food items in the vegetable box 108. Accordingly, forfood items requiring a suitable moisture in the vegetable box 108,because their moisture would be taken away by the cooling air, freshnessof the food items is degraded and storage duration is shortened.

In addition, since the vegetable box is opened upwardly, if therefrigerating chamber door is opened and closed, external air of therefrigerator can be possibly introduced into the vegetable box.

Therefore, if an environment outside the refrigerator is relativelyhumid, the outside moisture Would be introduced into the vegetable boxwhenever the refrigerating chamber door is opened and closed, dampingthe dried food items in the vegetable box which need to be maintaineddried.

Meanwhile, if the environment outside the refrigerator is relativelydry, the outside dried air would be introduced into the vegetable boxwhenever the refrigerating door is opened and closed, drying the fooditems such as fruits or vegetables in the vegetable box which need to bemaintained with moisture. Then, the storage duration of the food itemsis shortened and freshness of the food items is degraded.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide avegetable room for a refrigerator that is capable of maintaining fooditems stored in a vegetable box fresh regardless of environmentalconditions outside a refrigerator by providing a box cover to close avegetable box to prevent external air introduced in opening and closinga refrigerator door and cooling air inside a refrigerator from beingintroduced into the vegetable box and forming a cooling air ventilatinghole at the box cover which can be opened and closed to introducecooling air into the vegetable box or cut off introduction of coolingair into the vegetable box according to environment outside therefrigerator.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a vegetable roomfor a refrigerator in which a cooling air discharge hole of a coolingair discharge duct provided at a rear side is positioned to face avegetable box and a nozzle is provided at a front side of the coolingair discharge hole to increase a cooling air discharge speed, so thatcooling air can be smoothly circulated around the vegetable box toquickly perform a cooling operation on food items stored in thevegetable box and cooling air can be smoothly introduced into thevegetable box to preserve food items stored in the vegetable box freshfor a long period when a cooling air ventilating hole remains open.

To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purposeof the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein,there is provided a vegetable room for a refrigerator including: avegetable box disposed inside a refrigerator in which a cooling airsupply unit is provided to circulate cooling air therein and a pluralityof shelves are provided, and having a receptacle space for receivingfood items therein opened upwardly; a box cover for covering an openingside of the vegetable box to close the receptacle space of the vegetablebox and having a plurality of cooling air ventilating holes formed atone side thereof to introduce cooling air into the vegetable box; acover support unit interposed between the box cover and the shelf tosupport the box cover at the shelf; a plurality of opening and closingmembers for opening and closing the cooling air ventilating holes of thebox cover; and an operating unit for operating the opening and closingmembers simultaneously.

To achieve the above objects there is also provided a vegetable room fora refrigerator in which a cooling air discharge hole of a cooling airdischarge duct mounted at a rear side of a refrigerator is providedbetween a box cover and a shelf so that cooling air can be directlyintroduced between the box cover and the shelf, and a nozzle is providedat a front side of the cooling air discharge hole and formed with asectional area diminished as it goes from the rear side to the frontside in order to increase the discharge speed of cooling air.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a vertical-sectional view showing a refrigerator in accordancewith a conventional art;

FIG. 2 is a vertical-sectional view showing a vegetable room for therefrigerator in accordance with the conventional art;

FIG. 3 is a vertical-sectional view showing a vegetable room for arefrigerator in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an exploded assembled view of a vegetable room for arefrigerator in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the bottom of a box cover of a vegetableroom for a refrigerator in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing how an opening and closing member ismounted at a box cover of the vegetable room for a refrigerator inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a partial sectional view showing the box cover of thevegetable room for a refrigerator in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 9 is a partial sectional view showing how the opening and closingmember is operated in the vegetable room for a refrigerator inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a partial perspective view showing a cooling air ventilatinghole and the opening and closing member of the vegetable room for arefrigerator in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a partial perspective view showing how the opening andclosing member is operated in the vegetable room for a refrigerator inaccordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 12A to 12C are schematic views showing a process of mounting a boxcover of a vegetable room on the vegetable box in accordance with thepresent invention.

MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 3 is a vertical-sectional view showing a vegetable room for arefrigerator in accordance with the present invention, and FIG. 4 is anexploded assembled view of a vegetable room for a refrigerator inaccordance with the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a vegetable room for a refrigerator inaccordance with the present invention includes: a vegetable box 20disposed inside a refrigerating chamber and provided at a lower side ofa shelf 10 for receiving food items thereon, and having a receptaclespace (S) with a predetermined capacity upwardly opened to receivefruits, vegetables or functional storage stuffs therein; a box cover 30for covering an opening side of the vegetable box 20 to close thereceptacle space of the vegetable box 20 and having a plurality ofcooling air ventilating holes 31 and 41 formed at one side thereof inorder to allow cooling air to be introduced into the vegetable box 20; acover support unit 22 interposed between the box cover 30 and the shelf10 and supporting the box cover 30 at the lower side of the shelf 10; aplurality of opening and closing members 33 and 43 for opening andclosing the cooling air ventilating holes of the box cover 30; and anoperating unit 24 installed between the shelf 10 and the box cover 30and operating the opening and closing members 33 and 43 simultaneously.

A cooling air discharge hole 119 of a cooling air discharge duct 118 isprovided between the box cover 30 and the shelf 10 at a rear side of therefrigerator in order to discharge cooling air into the refrigerator,and a nozzle 120 is formed at a front side of the cooling air dischargehole 119 with a sectional area diminished as it goes from the rear sideto the front side in order to increase a discharge speed of cooling air.

Accordingly, cooling air is smoothly circulated around the vegetable box20 and quickly performs a cooling operation on food items preserved inthe vegetable box 20, and when the cooling air ventilating holes 31 and41 are opened, cooling air can be smoothly introduced into the vegetablebox 20.

The nozzle 120 is preferably positioned at a rear side of the rearmostcooling air ventilating hole, so that when the cooling air ventilatingholes 31 and 41 are opened, cooling air can be smoothly introduced intothe vegetable box 20.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the box cover 30 is formed in a square panelshape like the shelf 10 by using a transparent and light material.

Preferably, a plurality of ribs 35 are formed at a lower side of the boxcover 30 to collect moisture existing in the vegetable box 20. The rib35 has a grid form with a certain width and height so as to heighten awater-collection effect. As moisture existing inside the vegetable box20 is collected at the grids of the rib 35, it is prevented from beingdischarged outwardly from the vegetable box 20.

The cooling air ventilating holes 31 and 41 of the box cover 30 areformed long and approximately perpendicular to the direction thatcooling air is introduced, in order to allow cooling air to be smoothlyintroduced into the vegetable box 20.

There can be formed a plurality of cooling air ventilating holes withinthe area of the box cover 30. In the present invention, cooling airventilating holes 31 and 41 are formed at a front side and at a rearside of the box cover 30. That is, a first cooling air ventilating hole31 is formed at the front side of the box cover 30 and a second coolingair ventilating hole 41 is formed at the rear side of the box cover 30.

The cover support unit 22 consists of a hinge bracket 12 formeddownwardly at both sides of the shelf 10 and having a hinge hole 14formed long in a vertical direction, and a hinge shaft 32 formedextended at both sides of the box cover 30 and inserted to be movable ina vertical direction into the hinge hole 14 of the hinge bracket 12.

The cover support unit 22 is preferably formed eccentric toward thefront side on the basis of the center of the box cover 30 so that whenthe vegetable box 20 is separated from the lower side of the shelf 10,the box cover 30 is somewhat lifted at its front side compared to therear side owing to the self-weight.

The hinge bracket 12 and the hinge shaft 32 are positioned such that adistance (L1) from the front side of the shelf 10 and from the box cover30 is shorter than a distance (L2) from the rear side of the shelf 10and from the box cover 30.

Meanwhile, though not shown in the drawing, the hinge bracket 12 may beformed at the box cover 30, and accordingly, the hinge shaft 32 may beformed at the shelf 10.

The opening and closing members 33 and 43 are formed as a first openingand closing member 33 installed at the first cooling air ventilatinghole 31 and a second opening and closing member 43 installed at thesecond cooling air ventilating hole 41, and formed platy with apredetermined thickness corresponding to the shape of the first andsecond cooling air ventilating holes 31 and 41.

Cylindrical support-shafts 38 and 48 are formed extended at both sidesof the first and second opening and closing members 33 and 43. Thesupport shafts 38 and 48 are inserted rotatably into insertion holes 37and 47 formed at both sides of the first and second cooling airventilating holes 31 and 41 in order to rotatably support the first andsecond opening and closing members 33 and 43 at the inner side of thefirst and second cooling air ventilating holes 31 and 41.

As shown in FIG. 7, preferably, the support shafts 38 and 48 are formedeccentric toward the front side or toward the rear side on the basis ofthe center so that the first and second opening and closing members 33and 43 are rotated by self-weight to close the first and second coolingair ventilating holes 31 and 41 after the first and second cooling airventilating holes 31 and 41 are opened.

Either an outer circumferential surface of the support shafts 38 and 48or an inner circumferential surface of the insertion holes 37 and 47 areformed to be polyhedral so that when a user opens and closes the firstand second cooling air ventilating holes 31 and 41 by directly rotatingthe first and second opening and closing members 33 and 43 without usingthe operating unit 24, each of the opening and closing members 33 and 43can maintain a rotation angle.

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the operating unit 24 consists of a drivingunit 26 interposed between the box cover 30 and the shelf 10 androtating the first opening and closing member 33 to open the firstcooling air ventilating hole 31; and an coupling unit 28 for interactingwith the driving unit 26 to simultaneously rotate the first and secondopening and closing members 33 and 43 to open the second cooling airventilating hole 41.

As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the driving unit 26 consists of a firstprotrusion 34 formed protruded upwardly from the first opening andclosing member 33; a knob 13 installed to be movable linearly at oneside of the shelf 10; and a second protrusion 15 formed protrudeddownwardly from the knob 13 and rotating the first opening and closingmember 33 by interaction with the first protrusion 34 when the knob 13is moved.

A guide groove 11 is formed at the shelf 10 where the knob 13 isinstalled, to guide a linear movement of the knob 13, and a guide slot17 is formed at the inner side of the guide groove 11 to allow thesecond protrusion 15 to pass through the shelf 10 and guides a linearmovement of the second protrusion 15.

The first protrusion 34 converts the linear movement of the knob 13 intoa rotational movement of the opening and closing member 33 byinteracting with the second protrusion 15. The first protrusion 34 isformed inclined at a certain angle toward the second protrusion 15 sothat it can rotate the opening and closing member 33 by being pushed bythe second protrusion 15.

Preferably, the first protrusion 34 and the second protrusion 15 have acurved shape with a certain curvature at portions where they aremutually contacted with each other so that they can be smoothly slid.

As described above in the preferred embodiment of the present invention,the driving unit 26 is preferably installed at the front side near therefrigerator door, that is, at the side of the first opening and closingmember 33, in consideration of users' convenience in operation, but,without being limited thereto, may be installed at the rear side of therefrigerator, that is, at the side of the second opening and closingmember 43.

The coupling unit 28 consists of a connection pin 44 extended downwardlyfrom the first and second opening and closing members 33 and 43, and aconnection rod 45 hinge-connected at the lower side of the connectionpin 44 and transmitting a rotational force of the first opening andclosing member 33 to the second opening and closing member 43 when thefirst opening and closing member 33 is rotated by the driving unit 26.

The operation and effect of the vegetable room of the refrigerator inaccordance with the present invention will now be described.

Food items containing moisture such as fruits or vegetables or storagestuffs desired to be maintained in a dry state are stored in thereceptacle-space of the vegetable box 20. In order to maintain thefreshness of such food items and storage stuffs at the maximum, eachcharacteristic of storage stuffs should be preserved harmoniouslythrough the following manipulation.

To begin with, the process of mounting the box cover 30 at the upperportion of the vegetable box 20 to close the receptacle space of thevegetable box 20 in order to prevent the food items inside the vegetablebox 20 to directly contact with cooling air inside the refrigerator andwith outdoor air of the refrigerator will now be described withreference to FIGS. 12A to 12C.

First, food items are put in the receptacle-space of the vegetable box20 and the vegetable box 20 is inserted into the lower side of the shelf10.

As shown in FIG. 12A, before the vegetable box 20 is inserted into thelower side of the shelf 10, the box cover 30 is inclined with its frontside lifted. At this time, the vegetable box 20 is advanced until anupper end corner of the rear side of the vegetable box 20: is in contactwith the rear side of the box cover 30. Then, as shown in FIG. 12B, thehinge shaft 32 provided at both sides of the box cover 30 is movedupwardly along the hinge hole 14 formed at the hinge bracket 12 providedat both sides of the shelf 10 and rotated-such that the front side ofthe box cover 30 descends and the rear side thereof is lifted.

And then, as shown in FIG. 12C, after the vegetable box 20 is placed ata right position of the lower side of the shelf 10, the box cover 30descends to be mounted at an upper side of the vegetable box 20.

Accordingly, the receptacle space of the vegetable box 20 is closed asthe box cover 30 is mounted at the upper surface of the vegetable box20, and thus, the food items stored in the receptacle space is preventedfrom directly contacting with cooling air circulating inside therefrigerator and at the same time outdoor air outside the refrigeratoris prevented from being introduced thereinto and affecting the fooditems when the refrigerator door is opened and closed.

Meanwhile, if a condition outside the refrigerator is humid and therefrigerator door is opened and closed, when a food item is put into thevegetable box 20, the humid air is bound to be introduced into thevegetable box 20 together with the food item.

At this time, if a storage stuff preserved in the vegetable box 20 is inneed of drying, since the vegetable box 20 is in a closed state by meansof the box cover 30, the moisture introduced into the vegetable box 20will not be discharged outwardly from the vegetable box 20 and cooledtherein, making the storage stuff which needs drying to be damp.

In such a case, cooling air is let to be introduced into and circulatedin the vegetable box 20 so as to take moisture away from the vegetablebox 20 and discharge it outwardly, thereby maintaining the storage stuffin a dried state.

When cooling air is desired to be introduced into the vegetable box 20,the first and second cooling air ventilating holes 31 and 41 are opened,rather than detaching the box cover 30, processes of which will now bedescribed.

First, when the knob 13 installed at the shelf 10 is slid in an openingdirection (that is, in the right direction in FIG. 10 or 11), the secondprotrusion 15 of the knob 13 pushes the curved face of the firstprotrusion 34 of the opening and closing member 33. Then, being pushed,the first protrusion 34 moved downwardly, and the first opening andclosing member 33 is rotated centering around the support shaft 38extendedly formed at both sides thereof, thereby opening the firstcooling air ventilating hole 31.

At the same time, the second opening and closing member 43 receives therotational force of the first opening and closing member 43 through theconnection 44 and the connection rod 45 the second opening and closingmember 43 and is rotated to open the second cooling air ventilating hole41.

As the first and second cooling air ventilating hole 31 and 41 areopened, cooling air circulated in the refrigerator is introduced intothe vegetable box 20 and discharges moisture from the vegetable box 20,so that the vegetable box 20 can be maintained dry.

At this time, the cooling air discharge hole 119 is positioned betweenthe box cover 30 and the shelf 10, cooling air can be smoothlyintroduced into the vegetable box 20, and the nozzle provided at thecooling air discharge hole 119 makes discharge speed; of cooling airfast, so that cooling air is fast introduced into and circulated in thevegetable box 20. Thus, dryness of storage stuffs inside the vegetablebox 20 can be more effectively heightened.

Meanwhile, if a food item of which moisture needs to be maintained ispreserved in the vegetable box, the first and second cooling airventilating holes 31 and 32 must be closed to prevent the food item frombeing dehumidified by cooling air.

The first and second cooling air ventilating holes 31 and 32 are closedas follows.

That is, when the knob 13 installed at the shelf 10 is slid in a closingdirection (that is, in the left direction in FIG. 10 or 11), the firstopening and closing member 33 is rotated centering around the supportshaft 38 due to its self weight, closing the first cooling airventilating hole 31 of the box cover 30.

At the same time, like the first opening and closing member, the secondopening and closing member 43 is rotated centering around the supportshaft 48 by its self-weight, closing the second cooling air ventilatinghole 41.

At this time, since the cooling air discharge hole 119 is positionedbetween the box cover 30 and the shelf 10 and the nozzle 120accelerating the speed of cooling air is provided at the front side ofthe cooling air discharge hole 119, cooling air is smoothly circulatedaround the vegetable box 20 to perform a rapid cooling operation on fooditems kept in the vegetable box 20.

Accordingly, the receptacle space of the vegetable box 20 is closed andintroduction of cooling air to moisture-containing food items which needto maintain the moisture as it is, such as vegetables and fruits, is cutoff. In this manner dehydration is prevented.

At this time, moisture may be taken away from the food items in thereceptacle space but since this moisture ascends and is coagulated atthe rib 35 formed protruded at a lower side of the box cover 30,moisture leakage is prevented and thus the humidity of the food itemscan be effectively maintained.

As so far described, the vegetable room for a refrigerator in accordancewith the present invention has many advantages.

That is, the box cover is provided to cover the opening side of thevegetable box and the cooing air ventilating hole is formed at the boxcover and closed when vegetables or fruits are preserved. Accordingly,preserved in the hermetic state, those moisture-maintaining desired fooditems will not be in contact with cooling air, so that dehydration ofthem can be prevented.

Especially, when food items which needs drying are preserved under thecondition of a humid environment outside the refrigerator, the coolingair ventilating hole is opened to let cooling air to be in contact withthe dry-kept food items in the vegetable box and continuously movemoisture generated from the food items by means of cooling air, therebymaintaining the food items in the dry state. In this manner, the storagecondition of food items preserved in the vegetable box can be optimized.

The plurality of cooling air ventilating holes are formed at the boxcover and high speed cooling air is directly supplied between the boxcover and the shelf through the cooling air discharge hole of thecooling air discharge duct and the nozzle. Thus, cooling air can besmoothly introduced into the vegetable box.

In addition, the cooling air ventilating hole can be simply opened andclosed without detaching the box cover in introducing cooling air intothe vegetable box or cut off cooling air with the vegetable box.

-   -   As the present invention may be embodied in several forms        without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics        thereof, it should also be understood that the above-described        embodiments are not limited by any of the details of the        foregoing description, unless otherwise specified, but rather        should be construed broadly within its spirit and scope as        defined in the appended claims, and therefore all changes and        modifications that fall within the metes and bounds of the        claims, or equivalence of such metes and bounds are therefore        intended to be embraced by the appended claims.

1. A vegetable room for a refrigerator comprising: a vegetable boxdisposed inside a refrigerator in which a cooling air supply unit isprovided to circulate cooling air therein and a plurality of shelves areprovided, and having a receptacle space for receiving food items thereinopened upwardly; a box cover for covering an opening side of thevegetable box to close the receptacle space of the vegetable box andhaving a plurality of cooling air ventilating holes formed at one sidethereof to introduce cooling air into the vegetable box; a cover supportunit interposed between the box cover and the shelf to support the boxcover at the shelf; a plurality of opening and closing members foropening and closing the cooling air ventilating holes of the box cover;and an operating unit for operating the opening and closing memberssimultaneously.
 2. The vegetable room of claim 1, wherein the coversupport unit is formed eccentric toward the front side on the basis ofthe center of the box cover so that when the vegetable box is separatedfrom the lower side of the shelf, the front side of the box cover isrelatively lifted compared to the rear side thereof due to its selfweight.
 3. The vegetable room of claim 2, wherein the cover support unitcomprises: a hinge bracket extended downwardly from both left and rightsides of the shelf and having a hinge hole formed therein; and a hingeshaft extended at both left and right sides of the box cover andinserted into the hinge hole so as to be movable vertically.
 4. Thevegetable room of claim 3, wherein the hinge hole is formed longvertically.
 5. The vegetable room of claim 2, wherein the cover supportunit comprises: a hinge bracket extended upwardly from both left andright sides of the vegetable box and having a vertically long hinge holeformed therein; and a hinge shaft extended to both left and right sidesof the shelf and inserted into the hinge hole so as to be movablevertically.
 6. The vegetable room of claim 1, wherein the cooling airventilating hole is formed long perpendicular to the direction in whichcooling air is introduced, in order to allow cooling air to be smoothlyintroduced into the receptacle space of the vegetable box.
 7. Thevegetable room of claim 1, wherein the opening and closing membercomprises: a first opening and closing member rotatably supported at aninner side of the first cooling air ventilating hole formed at one sideof the vegetable box; and at least one or more second opening andclosing members rotatably supported at an inner side of at least one ormore second cooling air ventilating holes formed separated with acertain space from the first cooling air ventilating hole.
 8. Thevegetable room of claim 7 wherein the first and second opening andclosing members are formed platy with a certain thickness and include acylindrical support shaft extended at both sides thereof, the supportshaft being rotatably inserted into an insertion hole formed at bothsides of the first and second cooling air ventilating holes in order torotatably support the first and second opening and closing member at theinner side of the cooling air ventilating holes.
 9. The vegetable roomof claim 8, wherein either an outer circumferential surface of thesupport shaft or an inner circumferential surface of the insertion holeare formed to be polyhedral so that rotation angle of the first andsecond opening and closing members can be controlled by steps.
 10. Thevegetable room of claim 8, wherein the support shaft is formed eccentrictoward a front side or toward a rear side on the basis of the center ofthe first and second opening and closing members so that the first andsecond opening and closing members can close the cooling air ventilatinghole by its rotation according to self weight.
 11. The vegetable room ofclaim 7, wherein the operating unit comprises: a driving unit interposedbetween the box cover and the shelf and opening the first cooling airventilating hole by rotating the first opening and closing member; andan coupling unit for simultaneously rotating the first and secondopening and closing members to open the second cooling air ventilatinghole by interacting with the driving unit.
 12. The vegetable room ofclaim 11, wherein the driving unit is installed at the front side. 13.The vegetable room of claim 11, wherein the driving unit is installed ata rear side of the refrigerator.
 14. The vegetable room of claim 11,wherein the driving unit comprises: a first protrusion formed protrudedupwardly from the first opening and closing member; a knob installed tobe movable linearly at one side of the shelf; and a second protrusionprotruded downwardly from the knob and rotating the first opening andclosing member by interaction with the first protrusion when the knob ismoved.
 15. The vegetable room of claim 14, wherein a guide groove isformed at the shelf to guide a linear movement of the knob.
 16. Thevegetable of claim 15, wherein a guide slot is formed at the inner sideof the guide groove to allow the second protrusion to pass through theshelf and guide a linear movement of the second protrusion.
 17. Thevegetable room of claim 14, wherein the first protrusion is formedinclined at a certain angle in order to rotate the opening and closingmember by being pushed by the second protrusion.
 18. The vegetable roomof claim 17, wherein the first protrusion and the second protrusionrespectively have a curved shape with a certain curvature at portionswhere they are mutually contacted with each other so that they can besmoothly slid.
 19. The vegetable room of claim 11, wherein the couplingunit comprises: a connection pin extended downwardly from the first andsecond opening and closing members; and a connection rod hinge-connectedat the lower side of the connection pin and transmitting a rotationalforce of the first opening and closing member to the second opening andclosing member when the first opening and closing member is rotated bythe driving unit.
 20. The vegetable room of claim 1, wherein a pluralityof ribs are formed at the bottom of the box cover with a certain heightand with a certain width to collect moisture inside the vegetable box.21. The vegetable room of claim 20, wherein the ribs have a grid form.22. The vegetable room of claim 1, wherein a cooling air discharge holeof a cooling air discharge duct for discharging cooling air into arefrigerating chamber is positioned between the box cover and the shelfat the rear side of the refrigerator so that cooling air can be directlysupplied between the box cover and the shelf.
 23. The vegetable room ofclaim 22, wherein a nozzle is provided at a front side of the coolingair discharge hole, of which sectional area is diminished as it goesfrom a rear side to a front side in order to increase the dischargespeed of cooling air.
 24. The vegetable room of claim 23, wherein thenozzle is provided to be positioned at a rear side of the rearmostcooling air ventilating hole.